The weather has been perfect for flying in Kalgoorlie of late, with clear sunny days and a gentle breeze, unless of course you want to fly on a Sunday, when the wind is invariably at full blast from the south west or north east. However the Kalgoorlie boys are a hardy bunch and are not afraid of a challenge. We are blessed in Kalgoorlie with possibly the best year round flying conditions in the state. The number of days per year that are unflyable could be counted on both hands, so there has been a few grumbles recently.

Winter, however, has been a particularly productive time for the club. Many years of tight financial control has allowed us to finally buy an old Fordson front end loader and a large slasher. Since our move a few years ago to the new site we have suffered from having a very large area to develop and maintain with very little capital and a relatively small membership. It would be remiss of me, at this point to fail to mention the contribution that Cliff Altus has made to the acquisition, preparation and ongoing repairs to the tractor and slasher with assistance at times from a number of other members such as John Bates, Mike Proud and the two Trevors.

We are also plagued with an extra curse, that being the dreaded shift work and the resulting disruption to normal life that it incurs. This is very noticeable at the club, with different faces present every weekend.

On the up side, the club is blessed with a very high percentage of trainee pilots, all of whom are progressing at a pleasing rate. They bring into the club new ideas, attitudes and aircraft. The other unique aspect of the club is the ever changing interests amongst the members, and it is not unusual to see choppers, gliders, fun-fly models, bi-planes, semi-scale WWII fighters and trainers spread amongst six or eight flyers.

We have little contact with other clubs due to our isolation but occasionally a fellow flyer passes through and such was the case recently when Allan Marshall from the Wanneroo club was in Kal visiting his daughter. Never one to let a chance go by, Allan gave his "Accipiter" a taste of gold flavoured air, and we enjoyed his company and that of his lovely wife and daughter for the day.

This would be a good time to extend a welcome to other enthusiasts from around the state to come and visit us. If not just to visit the club which flys every Sunday from 10 a.m. onwards, but to also enjoy a town like no other in the world. With its amazing turn of the century architecture, or to view the incredible super-pit in action, amongst a plethora of other attractions.

Some of you may have visited Kalgoorlie in the distant past when it was a dusty, dirty outback outpost. Kalgoorlie today is a clean, green city with a fascinating, well preserved past and facilities to rival any region of Australia, and suburbs to rival Sorento. We also have one other advantage in that nowhere in Kal is more than a 15 minute drive to our well equipped club. This recommendation comes from one who has lived in most areas of this state and knows what most of you have to put up with!

That’s all for now from the gregarious goldfields. Next time around I hope to include more details of who’s doing what with what to whom !

Best wishes, Tim Bailye

P.R. – KMAC